Assyrian folk/pop music, also known as Assyrian folk-pop or modern Syriac music (), is the musical style of the Assyrian people derived from traditional music that includes a broad range of stylistic varieties, which would also encompass fusions of Western genres such as pop, electronic, Latin, jazz and/or classical music, with a melodic basis of Assyrian folk.
Background
Assyrian folk music claims to be the descendant of the music of their ancient Upper Mesopotamian ancestors that has survived in the liturgical music of the Syriac Churches. Assyrian songs are generally sung in Iraqi Koine, a standard variety of Assyrian Neo-Aramaic. However, older songs mostly had an Urmian dialect and tribal-folk music tend to contain Tyari dialects. Themes tend to focus on longing, melancholy, strife and love issues. Assyrian songs are usually lengthy, tending to be around 5 minutes long on average.
Composition
Assyrian folk can also be found in traditional Middle Eastern makams, and it has similarities to other folk music in Western Asia, such as Kurdish, Turkish, Persian, and Armenian music. Unlike most Western music, Assyrian music includes quarter tones halfway between notes, often through the use of instruments or the human voice. Modern Assyrian pop music is mostly written in the minor key, and would typically use the Phrygian scale, as well as the harmonic minor scale. The Aeolian mode (i.e. the natural minor scale) is somewhat rare, although it has been used more in the past. Some songs by Evin Agassi at the turn of the millennium had profusely used the Andalusian cadence due to influence of Latin pop at the time.
Rhythm
Assyrian dance music (particularly khigga) has a rhythm or beat that is similar to a swing/shuffle, a galloping jazz and blues rhythm. Whereas, the faster-paced gubareh beat can be compared to the Irish jig. The sheikhani beat uses a rhythm that is analogous to dembow, a dance rhythm in reggaeton music. Solos are common in Assyrian music and they are usually protracted. Instrumentation is mostly arranged with a keyboard and electronic drums, namely in weddings or parties. Although many forms of Assyrian records do use acoustic and orchestral instruments such as strings, pianos, saxophones and violins.
History
Folkloric period
Assyrian folk music is omnipresent in the village scene. A "musician" is not necessarily a professional, whoever can sing in any manner is considered a "singer". Most of the time, music is learned by ear and passed down as an oral tradition. Village music may be categorized, basically, into four groups: local secular music not related to specific occasions; functional music; religious music and hymns; and music adopted from other areas.
Here are a few types of tribal Assyrian Music that has survived to this day, especially in the Assyrian villages and towns of northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran and northeastern Syria:
Raweh: An ancient melodic chant which features wailing echoed voices, usually of a male. Raweh is reminiscent of how one's voice echoes in a valley between mountains. Zurna O Dawolah: These are two traditional music instruments, literally meaning a drum and wind-pipe (or flute). They are played together, either with or without singing in many ceremonies such as weddings, welcoming and, albeit rarely, funerals. Diwaneh: Sung in gatherings and meetings; lyrics cover aspects of life such as, working in the fields, persecution, suffering, religion. Lilyana: Wedding songs usually sung by women only, especially for the bride before leaving her home to get married. Also sung for the bridegroom the day before his wedding by his family and relatives. Tanbur: Another tribal music instrument, a string instrument with long neck, originated in ancient Assyria, discovered being depicted on carving from South Iraq from Ur to Akkad and Ashur. Albert Rouel Tamraz was a famous Assyrian singer from Iraq who played this instrument and sung many folkloric songs accompanied by hand-drum (tabla).
It was in the Assyrian homeland north of Mosul that people started to write the modern Syriac vernacular, more than two hundred years before the earliest British missionaries, although the earliest records of the Syriac language date from 5th century BC Achaemenid Assyria. The earliest dated text is a poem written in 1591. This makes early Neo-Syriac literature a contemporary of Jewish Neo-Aramaic literature from roughly the same region, dating back to the late 16th century.